Analysts Set NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Price Target at $37.50

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.50.

NI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company.

NiSource Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NI stock opened at $36.39 on Thursday. NiSource has a fifty-two week low of $24.80 and a fifty-two week high of $38.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $36.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $16.99 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that NiSource will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $786,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,368 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 0.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,396,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $394,888,000 after buying an additional 99,882 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in NiSource by 3.0% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 10,823,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $375,020,000 after acquiring an additional 316,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,747,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,139,000 after acquiring an additional 178,365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

About NiSource

NiSource Inc, an energy holding company, operates as a regulated natural gas and electric utility company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The company distributes natural gas to approximately 3.3 million customers through approximately 55,000 miles of distribution main pipeline and the associated individual customer service lines; and 1,000 miles of transmission main pipeline in northern Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland.